14 June, 2017

US troops kill three civilians after Afghan roadside bombing

A US
military convoy in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar Province was hit
by a roadside bomb earlier today, with Pentagon officials quick to
insist that no one was wounded in the incident. Three civilians,
however, two of them children, were killed in the immediate
aftermath.

The US
troops responded to the bomb hitting their vehicle by getting out and
firing indiscriminately, according to Afghan police, who say that the
US gunfire killed a brickworker named Ziyar Gul, and two of his
children, both 10-year-old boys. A third son who was present at the
scene survived, running to get help, though by the time he returned
everyone else was dead.

Relatives
say this is the second time US troops have killed members of this
family in the past 12 months, as during an incident last year US
troops killed another four members of the family, including Ziyar’s
6-year-old son.

Though
Afghan officials publicly confirmed the incident, the Pentagon
insisted they had heard no official word that any civilians might’ve
been killed in the incident, and that they believe the troops firing
wildly after a roadside bombing amounted to “self-defense” at any
rate.